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(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. THOMAS & L. G. BOSTEDO.

CASH AND PACKAGE CARRIER.

Patented Mar. 6, 1888.

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' CASH AND PACKAGE CARRIER.

No. 379.084. Patented Mar. 6, 1888.

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. H. THOMAS-81; L. G, BOSTEDO.

CASH AND PACKAGE CARRIER.

N0. 379,084. Patented Mar. 8,1888.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HORATIO THOMAS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AND LOUIS GARDNER BOSTEDO, OFATLANTIC, IOWA, ASSIGNORS TO THE BOSTEDO PACKAGE AND CASH CARRIERCOMPANY, OF ATLANTIC, IOWA.

CASH AND PACKAGE CARRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,084, dated March 6,1888.

Application filed September 28, 1887. Serial No. 250,9l3. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that we, HORATIO THOMAS, ofChicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, and LOUIS GARDNERBOSTEDO, of Atlantic, in the county of Cass and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Operative Devices forCash and Pack age Carriers; and we do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact descripto tion of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

Our invention relates to improvements in the operative devices ofpackage and cash car- I 5 riers.

In the application of Louis C. Bostedo for a patent for an improved cashand package carrier, filed August 2, 1886, a patent for which wasallowed April 14, 1887, a two-track sys- 2o tem is employed, the tracksbeing located one 23 vals, where elevators are arranged to permit thedispatching of goods or cash from these stations to a bundletable orcashiers stand and the return of change or the'wrapped bundles tothepoints where they were dispatched from. In this twotrack apparatuscars are forwarded from the clerks stations to the eashiers stand orbundle table on the upper track and returned to these several stationson the lower track. It is a peculiarity of our apparatus that switchesor to rn-outs are not necessary ad j u nets. The use of these devicesthat are ordinarily employed to permit cars to pass one or more stationsfrom the starting-poi nt to the terminals of the tracks is obviated bycertain devices connected with the elevators at stations. One of theprovisions made to facilitate the continuous travel over the elevators,that if open would make a gap in the upper and lower tracks, consists ina free track-section placed in the lowertrack to bridge the elevator,this loose track-piece being adapted for removal by the elevator on itsupward passage from the counter to line with either the lower or uppertrack.

Another necessary device consists of a cararrester or back-stop that isprovided to stop a car that is dispatched from a distant station when itin its passage approaches an open elevator the free track-piece of whichhas been removed by the elevator in the act of 5 5 raising it todispatch a car, and that reaches this open elevator before the descentof the elevator-frame restores the free track-piece to its normalposition. This back-stop device is also shown in the joint applicationof L. G. Bostedo and H. Thomas, filed November 5, 1886, and for which apatent was allowed January 21, 1887.

It has been found that the back-stops or arresting devices heretoforeemployed are not perfect in operation, as it is possible that acollision of a moving car on the lower track in transit from a distantstation to the cashiers stand may take place with the ascending elevatorof an intermediate station. The same difficulty has been experienced inall twotrack apparatus wit-h regard to a car moving from the cashiersstand or bundletable on the upper track, as there is liability of thiscar colliding with a rising elevator at an intermediate station; and,further, it has been seen that a safeguard is necessary to prevent thefree track-section of a lower track at an elevator-station from doinginjury in case it is accidentally dislodged and falls to the counter. 8c

In view of these deficiencies in package and cash carrier apparatus nowin use we have invented simple and effective devices, one object ofwhich is to provide improved back stops for the lower and upper tracksthat will 8 automatically assume a position to arrest a car as soon asthe elevator is raised slightly from its point of lowest depression nearthe counter, and before it removes the free tracksection of the lowertrack above it, thus prec venting a collision of the moving car with therising elevator on either the lower or upper track.

A further object is to so secure the free track-section of the lowertrack that, while it 5 will be allowed free legitimatedetachment fromits position bytheupwardly-moving elevator, it will be prevented fromfalling upon the floor or counter, and thus avoid the contingency ofaccident to persons or things below it.

A further object of our present invention is to provide an improvedmeans of connecting the basket or packagereeeptacle to thetransporting-ear so that the center of weight of the load in the basketwill be automaticallybrought directly beneath the center of the track tocompensate for unequaldistribution of weight in the basket orfreight-receiver.

A further object is to construct the cash and package transportingdevice so that an elastic cushion will be interposed. between the carproper and the freight-receptacle to neutralize the shock incurred insuddenly arresting the car and its heavily-loaded freight-holderatan ypoint on the line of track or at its terminals.

W'ith these objects in view our invention consists in certain featuresof construction and combinations of parts that will be hereinafterdescribed, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings making a part of this specification, Figure 1represents a front elevation of the tracks and elevator at a station.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a car and attached freight carrier orbasket. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the car and basket attachment,

. taken on the line :0 m, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a de' tached transversesection of the car and basket attachment, showing'a modified form ofthis attachment. Fig. 5 is a detached view of a modified form of thespring-cushion employed to ease the shock when the car comes in contactwith the stop. Fig. 6 is another modification of the shock-nentralizerfor the freightear and its basket.

In order to properly show the utility of our present improvements andgive a clear description of their methods of action,we will describesuch parts of a two-track cash and package carrier system as they enterinto combination with.

A A represent the upper track, and A A the lower track, at anelevator-station.

B B are the well-hole frames, that afford a support to the track ends atastation and also provide openings sufficient for the free passagethrough the two tracks of the elevatorframe 0, which is raised orlowered by the pullcord \V, that is adjusted over pulleys above theupper track. The elevator-frame O is slidingly supported by theperforated bosses P Q on this frame engaging the upright barsUU, whichdepend from the ceiling or other fixed point above the upper track.

The upper track, A, is provided at the sta tion with an adjustabletrack-piece, B, that is hinged to the well-hole frame B to move freelyon the pivot-points a a and allow the elevatorframe 0 to push it up whenthe frame 0 is raised to line with the upper track.

A free track-section, B, is made to fill the gap between the trackendsthat are secured to the well-hole frame B of the lower track, A A". Onthe side of the well-hole B of the lower track near A the back-stop islocated.

This consists of a rigid bar, E, thatis pivoted to the track on its rearsurface at G, and is bent to form an offset at F F", the portion F ofthis bar extending toward the well hole frame 13.

The bar E is adapted to support the bufferrod 0, that is surrounded bythe spiral spring V, which acts as a cushion to the buffer-rod andneutralizes any shock sustained by its head C, this latter portion beingintended to engage a projection on the frame of a car approaching theelevator station when the bar E is in a position to permit such acontact of parts.

The bar E and its buffer-rod are held in the position just described bythe tension of the platespring H, which is made to bear on its top edgeat a proper point to depress the head 0 of the buffer-rod 0 below thelower edge of the track A and in a line with the abutment formed 011 acar-frame to engage it when the car comes with momentum from a cashiersstand or a bundle-table.

The vibrating lever K, that is pivoted to the inner surface of thewell-hole frame B of the lower track, has its end K extended over theportion F of the bar E,andin consequence its opposite end, K isdepressed by the action of the spring H, The end K of the lever K is inturn engaged by the extremity L of the rocking arm L, the opposite end,L, of which is made to bear upon the lower surface of the end M of thelever M to raise it.

A chain or other flexible connection, N, is attached to the end M of thelever M, and is downwardly extended to connect to a washer or othermovable bearing, N, which is seated on and attached to a'spiral spring,S, that encircles the supporting-bar U of the elevator. Thechain-connection N is of such a relative length as to permit the spiralspringS to nearly seat itself upon the stop-block T, secured on the barU of the elevator.

The construction of the back-stop mechanism of the upper track isidentical with that of the lower track just described. It is located onthe side of the elevator opposite to the lowertrack back-stop, and has achain, N, or other flexible connection extended to engagethe pivoted armM, which is loosely secured to the rear face of the well-hole frame ofthe lower track, and from thence downwardly, to be attached to thewasher N and its spring S, that is made to surround the bar U of theelevator near the supporting-block T, that, in conjunction with itsfellow block T, furnishes a base on which the elevator-frame O restswhen it is in a lowered position near the counter.

In operation the lowering of the elevator to rest near the counterconveniently for the deposit of goods or cash in its basket willcompress the springs S S byacontact of the blocks T T with thesesprings. The tension or draft exerted by the weight of theelevator-frame O on the chains N N will be transmitted through thesystem of compound levers that have connection with the back-stop bars Eand E of IIO the upper and lower tracks and raise the buffer-rods O C,so that their ends 0 0 will be raised to allow cars to run freely onboth the tracks when the elevator is in the depressed position justmentioned.

When a car with its attached loaded basket is to be forwarded from aclerks station to the cashiers-stand or bundle-table, the elevatorframeOis raised, and it will be seen that a few inches rise of this frame willrelease the compression of the springsS S, and in consequence thetension of the springs H H will be exerted to instantly throw down thebuffer-rods ofthe back-stops E E, thus providing an arrester for carsmoving on either track until the elevator is again lowered to line withthe lower track.

It should be further explained that thelower boss, P, of theelevator-frame O is made to project laterally beyond the outer surfaceof the upper boss, Q, of the same frame on the side of the elevatoradjacent to the back-stop E of the lower track A this provision beingmade to allow the upper boss.to clear the end M of the lever M and causethe lower boss, P, to bear on this end of the lever M" when theelevator-frame is lowered to line with the lower track. It will beapparent that this arrangement of the relative parts just described willelevate the free ends of the bufferrods of the back-stops on the lowerand upper tracks. Thelatter-named stop is operated to clear the uppertrack by the engagement of the boss P, that ext-ends to abut on theinner end, 1, of the lever M and depress it, this depression effectingthe elevation of the free end 0' of the buffer-rod in an obvious manner.

The stop S, that projects from the rear face of the well-hole frame B ofthe lower track near to the lever M is provided as an abutment for theend B of the lever M, to prevent an undue elevation of this lever by thespring H when this spring is allowed to exert its tensional strength onthe back-stop bar E. The lever M is thus retained in proper position toengage the boss P of the elevator-frame.

In order to prevent the free track-section bar 13 of the lower tracks, AA from falling to the floor in case it is accidentally dislodged fromits normal position in the track-gap, or oifoftheelevator-supporting barwhen the latter-named bar lifts it out of place, the elevator-framebeing on its upward passage,an arm, Z, is secured to the inner surfaceof this free track-section bar B andis made to extend inwardly a properdistance to permit the ring Z, that is formed on its inner end, to.receive the pullrord W within it. bar B will, in case of its accidentaldisplacement, be restrained from falling below the elevator-frame O, asthe pull-cord W will lead it to the top of this frame, where it willrest until it is restored to proper position in the track-gap, or on thesupportingbar provided for it on the elevator-frame, as is shown in ourpatented cash and package carrier system.

In Figs. 2,3, 4, 5, and 6 of the drawingsimproved devices forfacilitating and increasing By this provision the placed in this basketbe about in a direct line under the car-wheels, to insure the freetravel of the car, and as it is not possible to so load the carat alltimes that this will be effected by the location of the goods in thereceptacle a pro vision must be made for the automatic regulation of thebasket, to cause it to align the center of its load'weight to the centerof the wheels of the car. We have made such a provision that is simpleand effective and that in its operation prevents an undue lateralvibration of the basket or goods-receptacle, which would beobjectionable and hinder the proper travel of the car. It is alsoimportant that an elastic cushion be provided that will absorb the shockof a sudden stoppage of the car, and in this appliance to the car it isof advantage to introduce the recoil-arrester at the points ofattachment of the package receptacle or carrier to the car proper, sothat a collision of the wheels or frame of the car with a rigid obstaclewill not dislodge thecontents of the basket or other package-receptaclethat is connected to the carframe.

We will now describe appliances that will afford the regulation ofweight of the car-load and absorb the shock of a sudden stoppage of thecar.

In Fig. 2, I represents the frame of the car, to which the groovedwheels I I are revolubly secured. The depending standards I I areconnected below the wheels by the crossbars d d. The lower ends of thestandards are enlarged to form bosses l I, which are perforated toreceive the horizontal bar J, that is secured to the upright hangers J Jof the basket J by insertion of its ends'through the perforated upperends of these hangers and compression of the set-screws b, to fix thebar J rigidly therein. Upon the bar J, preferably near its center, thearm 1 is placed and secured by set-screwsf, to permit its properadjustment with regard to the suspended basket J This arm 1 ispreferably provided with a bifurcated free upper end, the two limbs 2 3of this forked end being located one each side of the cross-bar d. (SeeFig. 3.) The space allowed between the forked ends 2 3 is such that asufficient. swing of the basket J is permitted to insure the properadjustment of its load to align its center of weight with the verticalplane of the wheels'l I and not per mit any objectionable side vibrationof the basket while the car is in transit on the track. Another andequivalent method of constructing the arm I is to dispense with theforked ends 2 3, as shown in Fig. 4, and simply introduce the free upperend of the arm I between the cross-bars d d, the distance between thesebars allowing a side play of the basket that is proper and restrictingit from any improper lateral swinging movement. Between the brackets I Iand the boss of the arm I the spiral springs 4 5are placed, thesesprings being made to encircle the horizontal bar J. (See Fig. 2.) Thesprings should be of proper tensional strength to cushion the loadedbasket, and to do this properly the spring should be slightly compressedwhen inserted in place on the bar.

In Figs. 5 and 6 other modifications of the spring cushion device areshown. These are merely changes in the location of the springs, andtheir manner of operation is the same, with exception of that shown inFig. The spring 6 in this form of cushion has bearing on but one side ofthe boss of the arm I, and will therefore only cushion upon one end ofthe car.

Ve will revert to the backstop device previously described to explainthat the spiral springs S Sare also designed to serve the purpose of anelestic cushion, to gently absorb the impact of a descending loadedelevator when other cushioning devices are not employed for thispurpose. Further, we have illustrated and described this back-stop asapplied to the Bostedo'lhomas system of cash and package carrying; butwe do not wish to limit its operation to this system, as by a slightmodification of details it may be applied to other two-track systems,the essential features being preserved, which consist in the provisionof mechanism that will retain the back stop in a position to permittravel on either track when the elevator is at rest below the lowertrack, the elevator holding this mech-' anism by its weight, so that aslight upward movement of the elevator-frame will release the back-stopand permit it to automatically assume a position to arrest a car runningon the upper or lower track, this arrest being effected before theelevator has time to reach the lower track and open it.

Slight changes might be made in the constructive details of thisinvention without departure from the spirit or exceeding its scope;hence we do not desire to restrict ourselves to the exact forms shown;but,

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desireto secure by Let ters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a track, a backstop, and an elevatonframe, of amovable spring-bearing indirectly connected to the back-stop and adaptedto be engaged by the elevator-frame when the latter is at a point be lowthe lower track, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with an elevator-frame and track, of a pivotedback-stop, a movable spring-bearing, and a flexible connection betweenthe backstop and bearing, whereby when the elevator-frame is in itslowered position the back-stop is held clear of the track, substantiallyas set forth.

3. The combination, with an elevator-frame and track, of a pivotedback-stop, a bearing on which the elevator-frame rests when in itslowered position, a spring supporting said bearing. and a flexibleconnection between the bearing and back-stop, whereby when theelevator-i'rame is in its lowered position the backstop is held clear ofthe track, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with an elevator-frame and a pullcord, of a freetraclesection and an arm, the latter having an eye through which thepull-cord passes, substantially as set forth.

5. in a car for a cash or package carrier, the combination of twowheels, a frame-piece, two standards depending from this piece, twocross-bars secured tothe standards, a goods or cash receptacle, twohangers attached to the receptacle, a bar adjustably secured to thehangers, and an adjustable arm adapted to engage the crossbars and limitthe side-swing of the basket or goods receptacle, substantially as setforth.

6. The combination, with a car, a rod slidiugiy connected thereto, and areceptacle sccured to said rod, of springs mounted on the rod andengaging the carframc, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, with a car, a rod slidingly connected thereto, and areceptacle secured to the rod, of an arm secured to the rod, and aspring encircling the red at a point between said arm and one of thedepending standards in which the rod is mounted, substantially as setforth.

8. The combination, with a car having depending standards, a rod looselymounted in said standards, and a receptacle secured to the rod, of anarm secured on the rod at a point between the standards, and springslocated on the rod between the arm and standards, substantially as setforth.

9. The combination, with a car having depending standards, a rod looselymounted in said standards, a spring on said rod, and a cross barconnecting the standards at a point above the rod, of a receptaclerigidly secured to the rod, and an arm adapted to engage the crossbar,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

HORATIO THOMAS. LOUIS GARDNER BOSTEDO.

\Vitnesses:

BENJAMIN F. STRAUS, CHARLES F. PETERS.

